Putting the right-to-left layout to the test: Exploring appropriation and left-handed phone use in a mirrored phone layout

This study aimed to observe the appropriation of a changed phone of which use had previously stabilized. The second aim was to observe phone use among left-handed people and the need for a left-handed phone layout. This study used the Android right-to-left (RTL) function to observe this. It was used as a change to the known phone layout of participants. The Model of Technology Appropriation (Carroll, 2004) was applied as a framework to understand the processes that guide technology use. A week-long diary study was held to observe the first week of participants using their changed phone. During the study, 26 participants (5 left-handed, 3 ambidextrous) were asked to log their experiences daily. It was established that the appropriation process after the stabilizing of phone use could be considered a different process than before this first stabilization. This study defined this process as re-appropriation. Left-handed participants were divided on the usefulness of a left-handed layout in general. They were observed to be adaptive in their handedness, not only in phone use. This was seen in their doubts about a left-handed mode for phones. Re-appropriation possibly has interesting practical implications as an intervention strategy. The results of this study offer insights for future research.